River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-03-24
THE HORSE.
Breaking and Driving.
PY DR.. z. E. PARSONS.

Since my last article ,One of my neigh
bors, experienced in raising horses,
asked me if thought pint of oats
twice day was enough for colt the
first winter With view of correct
ing what may be a misapprehension
of my views, and to make my state
ments more clear, will now say that,
mentioned one pint of oats twice
cay as the minimum for colt, to show
Of what great benefit SO small a feed
of grain might be. A colt should be
fed enough grain to keep him in good
condition, enough to keep him grow
ing, for If growth stops the animal
must lose in value, and will probably
never recover from the loss.
Among the most important things
to be considered in the raising of hOr-
ses and bringing them to condition
of usefulness are breaking and driving.
All men who have handled horses
know that badly broken horse is less
valuable than he would be if well
broken, still it is fact not to be sue
cessfully contradicted, that a majority
of cur horses are very badly broken.
The reasons for this are many, but the
chief one is, those who undertake the
breaking do not know how TO perform
the work. They have SO little know
ledge of the nature of horses, and know
SO little as to what constitutes well
broken horse, that nothing but bad
results could well be looked for under
their management. Acting on wrong
ideas themselves, the horse is wrongly
taught, and his value permanently i'm
paired.
The breaking should begin as soon
as the colt is born and on his feet.
The object of the first lesson should
be to render the colt dOcile, to make
it ''tame," so that he will approach his
master as fearlessly as he will APP
proach his mother, and permit him
self to be fondled and handled without
suspicion. This lesson should be car
ried so far as to enable the teacher to
| handle the young animal in every part,
| to lift his feet and strike the sole
gently, rub his limbs gently with brush
| and pad and hand; open his mouth, etc,
in fact to do everything indicative OF
what must of necessity be done in his
after career. To succeed in this the
colt and dam should not be turned out
in the woods, to be frightened and
made wild by the approach of every
human being who chances to be out
for a stroll, or to be chased by worth
| less dogs whose chief amusement may
be to brighten colts with their bark
| ing, but should be brought near the
house, where every member of the
| family may form their acquaintance
| and extend to them little every day
kindnesses. This lesson in docility
should be mingled with the second,
which is appropriately the wearing of
harness. The first step in this direc-
| ton should be with the halter, which
should be gently applied and frequent
| ly removed, so as to overcome all fear
and cause the colt to feel as soon as
possible that it is needful operation,
| and not intended to coerce or cOnfine
| him. As soon as success is reached
in this, leading should be attempted,
and this can best be accomplished by
Harvesting the mother and tieing the
colts leading strap to the harness, so
| that he cannot get to far forward or
back, then by leading the mother, the
colt will soon learn TO be guided by
| the halter wherever the mother goes,
| without resistance, after which the
| mother may be used at the buggy, and
the colt led to the village without
/ trouble. A colt should never be al
lowed to run loose in the road when
the mother is in harness, but should
be tied to the harness on all occasions.
Little by little. advances may be safely
and successfully made until the colt is
completely harnessed, and taught to
accept the situation with seeming
I oil
should be taken to cause not the slight
est pain, or apprehension of danger.
and 1t will be found that, according TO
the intelligence of the animal, he may
be guided along until he will bow his
head to receive the headstall or collar,
take his place at the pole or shafts,
come at the call, stand where he is left.
&c. &C., thus rewarding the teacher for
all his patience and care, and adding
much to the value of the horse. One
of the important considerations in
breaking colts is to teach them to pull,
and this can be best commenced by
pulling a weight forward to enable
| them to reach their food. Horses are
made halky in most cases by being
required to pull load before they
have learned how to pull, and, finding
the load too heavy, they stop, and the
driver, being balky, or foolish, de
mands more effort, a conflict follows.
the colt gets excited, the driver gets
angry, applies the whip, talks large
talk, calls the colt bad names. lei Ks
the reins and yells, until the colt is
spoiled. The colt taught to pull little
by little, gradually increasing the
burden, before he is put to the wagon,
will hardly refuse to do his share at
the pole If decently treated and load.
ed.
Driving is part of breaking, and a
very important part too, still proper
knowledge of it is as much neglected as
any other feature of proper breaking
In fact it may be safely said that,